Farmers face deadline tonight on weevil referendum

Their farms may be only 2,640 feet apart, but Leland White and Rick Clem are many miles apart when it comes to the proposed Southern High Plains/Caprock Boll Weevil Eradication Program.

The New Home growers and their counterparts across the central South Plains counties have until midnight today to decide if they want to assess themselves for the program that may cost $118 million.

White supports the proposed endeavor. Clem does not.

The ballots, mailed by the Texas Department of Agriculture to more than 6,000 farmers in Cochran, Crosby, Dickens, Garza, Hockley, Lubbock and parts of Terry and Lynn counties, must be postmarked by midnight to be counted. Those farmers grow cotton on 1.29 million acres.

The actual cost of the Southern High Plains/Caprock zone program for the first four years is $105 million, said Joe Alspaugh of Slaton, although the final tab could swell to $118 million if the pay-back lasts 13 years. Alspaugh, who chairs the zone's steering committee, said growers will vote again at the end of the four-year period to determine if they want the program to continue.

If the referendum is approved it takes two-thirds of those casting ballots or those voting must farm more than 50 percent of the zone's acreage the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation in Abilene will start a diapause spray program next fall, followed by in-season treatments the next four years. The foundation currently runs eradication programs on 4 million acres, many of which are on the South Plains in other zones.

The way White sees it, farmers can either pay for eradication via the $6 per acre dryland and $12 per acre irrigated assessment, spend out-of-pocket money to fight the pest or suffer from the loss of production. The proposed assessment is on a "per land acre" basis.

"Some, like myself, haven't had a big boll weevil problem so far," says White. "We haven't sprayed much because we haven't needed to, but I know there's a lot of damage out there right now."

Clem agrees that the weevil is present, but he feels the massive expenditure can't be justified because the price of cotton is so low. The official ballot from the TDA, which has weevil program oversight, calls for a maximum budget level of $92.42 per acre for the first four years.

"We've got some weevils, but not enough to saddle us with a 13-year tax,"" says Clem. "Besides, I can't spray for weevils five or six times anyway."

Discussing program financing, which seems to be the most contentious issue among growers, Alspaugh says "it's almost a guarantee" that the weevil program will have enough government money to start next year, if the referendum passes. After the second year, "we may have an excess of government money starting to come in. . .of course, we can't guarantee that."

Alspaugh said that $22 million is needed "just to make the budget work." The recent appropriations bill passed in Washington calls for $78 million for nationwide boll weevil programs, of which $25 million would be spread among Texas' active zones.

Growers in the zone, the state's largest, have received mailings in recent days from those on both sides of the issue.

Supporters point out that most farmers in the zone have what's termed "a serious boll weevil problem.

"Even those only experiencing light boll weevil pressure would reap substantial savings under the proposed eradication plan," according to one mailing, which includes the names of more than 300 producers/landlords "who believe we must look to the future and vote YES in the upcoming referendum. . ."

State Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, who sponsored legislation during the last session to secure state weevil eradication money for active zones, said in a mailing that he "again will attempt to secure additional funding" for the next biennium. He hinted, however, that no more state assistance may be forthcoming after that time.

Conservative Cotton Producers, a fledgling group organized to fight the proposal, noted that the vote is based on a 13-year pay-out, adding that "the fine print says we pay the full amount until the debt is satisfied." And, according to the mailing, "maintenance fees follow forever."

Zane Reese, a grower from Lorenzo and a member of the group, said his organization isn't suggesting to farmers how they should vote, only that several "main issues should be considered."

Also among them, he said, is that a state lien will be placed on a growers' crop for non-payment. Reese said the penalties are "pretty severe."

Too, the intensive weevil spray program will trigger a secondary pest explosion, he said.

"In year one of the program, we will have aphids (plant lice). In year two, we will have beet armyworms, boll worms, budworms, loopers, spider mites and aphids," according to the CCP. "You fight these pests on your own."

But, like Clem, Reese thinks the economy is the overriding issue.

"It may be hard to collect and pay for the program," said Reese. "During 1998, the foundation had a hard time paying its bills I'm afraid that might happen to us."